Sorry

We are sorry for not blogging in a long time. We have both been on vacation- in areas without great Internet access- and busy with Christmas, etc.

We will be posting soon though, and our subject will be: New Year Resolutions.

Tori and Bethany:)

Who We Are

About Bethany Winz:

I am an imaginative teenager who loves Jesus with her whole heart. I like cold, unlike some people I know (read about Tori). I enjoy crafting of many kinds, including knitting, crocheting, jewelry making, and scrap booking. I also enjoy cooking and baking. One of my favorite things to do when I am alone is to listen to worship/Christian music and sing my heart out (and, for obvious reasons, I only do this when I am alone…..). I spend a lot of time helping in our children’s ministry and interning with the generational minister at our church. But, enough about what I have to say about me. This is what Tori has to say about me!

Tori on Bethany:

When I first met Bethany, it took some time for us to get to know each other. When we did, things just clicked. While she can be quite crazy at times, she brings life to potentially boring meetings. She is a very out going person, and is always telling me about her church and all of her passions (there are many) (Bethany: Jesus is always first! Back to you, Tori!). Opposites attract, and while I know that saying is generally used in terms of marriage, I have found it applies to best friends, also!

About Tori Tjernagel:

The cold is distasteful to her, and she considers it cold at 60 degrees and below. Ironically, her favorite part of the year is winter (because of Christmas). She loves anything that helps her catch the holiday spirit. Her hobbies are reading, writing on her blog, and anything crafty- knitting (with a spool or loom, but mostly with needles), crocheting, embroidering, count cross-stitch, scrap booking, jewelry making... The list goes on. She has had a lifelong yearning for a dog, but has only seceded in coaxing her parents into getting a cat (not really, but the story is too long to explain here). She is troubled at the shape of her generation, and has been intimately connected with a couple of split families.

Bethany on Tori:

Tori is probably the most serious friend that I have. She is VERY organized, and when she has decided some way to do something, she will have her way She also has a funny, very humorous side (surprise, surprise!) and we joke around all the time! She has an incredible passion and drive for life, and especally dancing. Whenever there is something to do, Tori will get it done!

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s discuss some other topics of interest.

How we got our idea:

We were in Tori’s dining room discussing how half of a split family was having to move because of more relationship complications. We had also recently read an article in Brio, a magazine made by Focus on the Family for teen girls, called ‘Make it Matter.’ We decided then and there that we would make our lives matter by ministering to children in single parent homes or split families. They need our love!

You know we minister to children in split homes. But here’s the specific type of split home we focus on:

We minister to any child in any kind of single parent home. This means the parents can either be divorced, separated, one may have died, run off, the child may be the result of pre-marital sex, and, as sad as it is, rape- pretty much any case you can think of (if there is a case that we have not thought of that may need our attention, please please please leave a comment or send us an email!).

Other ways we wish to help these children:

Both Bethany and Tori have been blessed with parents who truly love each other, and have a lifelong marriage commitment. While our hearts go out to children less fortunate than us, we don’t have the experience we need to know what these children need most. We are searching for an addition to our team who comes from a single parent home. More on that in the next post.
Things we hope to expand into later:
We both have a huge passion for life, the redemption of our generation, and freedom. We eventually want to have impact on these issues: The end of abortion, euthanasia, and suicide. We also want to stop human trafficking, and especially sex trafficking. We want to influence our generation to make their lives matter, and for the end of things like eating disorders, immodesty, and pre-marital sex.

How you can help:

PRAY FOR US! We are going to get a running list of prayer requests for the families that we are helping, us personally, and our ministry. Also, we can use your help in so many other ways. If you are good at writing fiction or re-telling history, you can help us with our newsletter. If you are financially able to give, we can send out more copies of the newsletter. If you like helping by putting postage on things, making copies, or other kinds of labor like that, we can also use you. Maybe you are good at designing newsletters and such. If these aren’t ‘your thing’ and you still want to help, email us and we will find something for you to do. PLEASE LET US KNOW! You can e-mail us at armsofloveministries@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!
Also, if you come from a single parent home and have any ideas, we WANT to hear from you. We need someone to tell us where to go.

Both Bethany and Tori are rebelutionaries. What is a rebelutionary? Check it out at www.therebelution.com/aboutrebelution.htm. The book Do Hard Things, written by the creators of the Rebelution, has helped us grow closer to Christ, and helped us through some vital steps in creating our ministry.

Thank you for reading our blog, and feel free to comment on anything!

Tori and Bethany:)

Thanks Giving on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a day when you ____ (fill in the blank: are full, are thankfull, enjoy family time, etc.) . You stuff yourself with turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and enjoy the day off. Thanking the cook for the meal, you slouch into the other room to watch football and sleep the stomachache off. All day, you think of things you're thankful for. A house. A bed. Good food. Family. Friends. The sun. The rain. Everything...

But some people don't have that opportunity. Thanksgiving is just another day, only it happens to have a special name. To the soldiers in Iraq. To the single mom, struggling to make ends meet. To the homeless without a Salvation Army. Even though it's an American holiday, to the children in Africa.

Just remember this Thanksgiving, those who may not be as fortunate as you. If you didn't have a good year financially, remember that there's always someone out there worse off than you. And give thanks that you're in the situation you're in now. Also, send out a prayer for those less fortunate people.

Tori

Who are we?

Who are we? We are Bethany and Tori, teens, best friends, and rebelutionaries.



What are we? We are a Christian ministry, and we like to call ourselves Arms of Love.



Who do we want to help? The children in single parent homes. We hope to expand to other areas of ministry later.



When are we going to start our ministry? ASAP (as soon as possible). With God's help, by January.



Where will we begin? In our home town, Orlando.



Why do we want to help? Because that's what God calls us to do, and if we don't help them, who will?



How will we help? Our main idea is to send out a quarterly newsletter called Mizmaze (hopefully to become more frequent and elaborate). This will encourage them in a unique way, tailored to their situation.



Check our next post (out soon) to learn how we got our idea, other ways we wish to help, just what kind of single parent situations we're talking about, what a rebelutionary is, and even how you can help!



Reaching out to the children in single parent homes,



Tori & Bethany:)

Look Out!

By Wednesday afternoon, Bethany and I will have our mission statement/who we are/why we are doing this/how we're doing this etc. post up. We will write it on Tuesday afternoon when we meet together, so look out for it to be up by Wednesday!

Reaching out to the kids in single parent homes in my community,
Tori

We Need YOUR Ideas

Or any ideas! We need those too.

I usually write long posts, but I have to rush and wanted to let Bethany see that my mom finally unblocked my blog!

Young in age, Big in dreams!

This is a blog that Tori and I have designed for our ministry. We want to reach out to kids in single parent homes with the love of Jesus. We are starting with a newsletter, and hope to expand from there. If you have any ideas, please let us know! Eventualy, we will post the newsletter here, once we get started. We will also come up with a list of prayer needs. Any of you who are willing to commit to praying for us, please let us know! (We also welcome any financial gifts....) This is just a start, but look for more to come!